Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to magnetic stabilizer systems for application to passive magnetic bearing systems, and more specifically, it relates to stabilizers is especially suitable for stabilizing “tilt” modes and/or transverse displacement modes of magnetically levitated rotating objects.
Description of Related Art
The essence of Earnshaw's theorem, when it is applied to magnetic forces between permanent magnets, is that it proves that it is impossible to stably levitate (in static equilibrium) a permanent magnet element through the forces exerted by any fixed configuration of other permanent magnets. Earnshaw's Theorem also applies to electric charges, where it asserts that no fixed configuration of static charges can be found that will stably levitate another static charge. Earlier approaches to overcoming the magnetic version of the theorem, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,221 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,480, are based on the use of Halbach arrays interacting with specially configured planar windings to achieve stabilization. It is desirable to provide a new magnetic stabilizer configuration that employs a much simpler magnet configuration and stabilizer winding than those employed in the above-listed patents.